Geoffrey Bouchard took his first professional win in the opening stage of the Tour of the Alps.
You can rewatch STAGE 1 HERE
Ineos Grenadiers and Bahrain-Victorious put on a chase on the breakaway of the day in an attempt to eye the stage win and bonus seconds. However, the gap slowly came down, and Bouchard just barely managed to survive and take the win. Pello Bilbao and Romain Bardet sprinted towards second and third place in the peloton.
“I think I realised I was going to win at 300 metres before the finish line. I thought of the Giro d’Italia last year, when I was caught by the leaders with 400 metres to go, but today I won,” said Bouchard.
“I knew that if you were in front on the descent off the last climb, you could hold your gap over the peloton. But on the final circuit, I had a lot of headwind and it was very hard. I just kept pushing and I went full gas on the last small climb with 4km to go. I had a little gap just before the finish line, so it was perfect.”
?? Geoffrey Bouchard remporte la première étape du Tour des Alpes !#lequipeVELO pic.twitter.com/AHRMbJzNki
— la chaine L'Équipe (@lachainelequipe) April 18, 2022
